Thursday, August 5, 2010

A New Mystery

Exploration was my middle name. Well actually it was Edward, but exploration would have fit in 1959. Having completed my tour of Mam maw's and Pap paw's parlor, I would move on to the bedroom. Now this was really Pap paw's room. It was where he literally spent his life, due to his stroke. His chair set angled out from the wall where his crutches stood. There was a T.V. tray next to his chair where Mam maw often left crackers, a glass of milk, and his bag of black lickerish sticks. To the right stood an end table that sat between his chair and the large, four-poster bed. My exploration was often curtailed in this room, due to the fact that Pap paw was there, and frequently other family members were visiting, at anyone time. These facts made it much more difficult to examine the territory.

It so happened that one day as Pap paw and I were alone in his room, he had to go to the bathroom. He would maneuver his crutch under his left arm, raise from his chair, and negotiate a passage to the bathroom. The timing was now perfect for me to explore the bedside table that, to this point, had been pretty much neglected by my determined examination.

The table was magazine rack, pharmacy, hair dresser, post office, message board, candy store, bank, storage rack, and the many other things that came in handy just getting up in the morning and going to bed in the evening. There were combs, hair brushes, make-up containers, lip stick, hand mirror, top value stamps, coins, notes, and candy. You get the picture. There was one drawer at the top that beckoned to be opened, and who was I to deny that Siren's call.

The top drawer had a single nob that could be used to open this lightly packed space. My eye came to a blue box which had gold lettering on the top. The box was almost shaped as a cube; and it was somewhat heavy as I began to raise the lid. To my astonishment it contained an eye! Almost dropping the box, at first, I thought, what in the world?! What did Pap paw do to have an eye in his bedside table? Knowing my anatomy now, the pupil was round and jet black. This was surrounded by a light blue iris (the color part of the eye)that reflected the rooms light perfectly. The iris was surrounded by a sea of white. I touched the white part and it felt like glass! A glass eye! Golly gee! Returning the box to its rightful resting place, I closed the drawer and quickly returned to my sitting position on the bed. A glass eye, a glass eye...my mind raced through the possibilities. A pirate placed it there...no, no. Part of a Halloween costume...no,no. Murder...surely not. But why? As Pap paw returned from the bathroom, my determination to solve this new mystery began.